California, Florida fish mortality pinned to drought, climate change

California officials warned this week that salmon in the state's Sacramento River might not survive the region's historic drought.

The publication reported Wednesday that a final blow, after two years of "severe mortality during the last drought," would risk the extinction of the species — even though the agency has hauled millions of the Chinook salmon to Bay Area waters as a precaution. Triple-digit temperatures have plagued the West, killing hundreds of people in the last major heat wave. The severe conditions have exacerbated the climate-driven "megadrought," leading to less water and less streamflow.